The Silence of the Lambs (film)
The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American psychological horror-thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme from a screenplay written by Ted Tally, adapted from Thomas Harris's 1988 novel of the same name. The film stars Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, and Anthony Heald. In the film, Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer to apprehend another serial killer, known only as "Buffalo Bill", who skins his female victims' corpses. The novel was Harris's first and second respectively to feature the characters of Starling and Lecter, and was the second adaptation of a Harris novel to feature Lecter, preceded by the Michael Mann-directed Manhunter (1986). The Silence of the Lambs was released on February 14, 1991, and grossed $272.7 million worldwide against its $19 million budget, becoming the fifth-highest grossing film of 1991 worldwide. The film premiered at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Bear, while Demme received the Silver Bear for Best Director. Critically acclaimed upon release, it became only the third film, (the other two being It Happened One Night and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), to win Academy Awards in all the top five categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It is also the first (and so far only) Best Picture winner widely considered to be a horror film, and only the third such film to be nominated in the category, after The Exorcist (1973) and Jaws (1975). It is regularly cited by critics, film directors, and audiences alike as one of the greatest and most influential films of all time. In 2018, Empire ranked it 48th, on their list of 500 greatest movies of all time. The American Film Institute, ranked it as the 5th greatest and most influential thriller film of all time while the characters Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter were ranked as the greatest film heroine and villain respectively. The film is considered "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant by the U.S. Library of Congress and was selected to be preserved in the National Film Registry in 2011. A sequel titled Hannibal was released in 2001, in which Hopkins reprised his role. It was followed by two prequels: Red Dragon (2002) and Hannibal Rising (2007). Accusations of homophobia, transphobia and sexism Upon its release, The Silence of the Lambs was criticized by members of the LGBT community for its portrayal of Buffalo Bill as bisexual and transsexual. In response to the critiques, Demme replied that Buffalo Bill "wasn't a gay character. He was a tormented man who hated himself and wished he was a woman because that would have made him as far away from himself as he possibly could be." Demme added that he "came to realize that there is a tremendous absence of positive gay characters in movies". Much of the criticism was directed towards Foster, whom the critics alleged was herself a lesbian.Hollinger 2012, pp. 46–47 In a 1992 interview with Playboy magazine, notable feminist and women's rights advocate Betty Friedan stated, "I thought it was absolutely outrageous that The Silence of the Lambs won four Oscars. … I'm not saying that the movie shouldn't have been shown. I'm not denying the movie was an artistic triumph, but it was about the evisceration, the skinning alive of women. That is what I find offensive. Not the Playboy centerfold.""Interview of Friedan" by David Sheff, Playboy, September 1992, pp. 51–54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 149; reprinted in full in Interviews with Betty Friedan, Janann Sherman, ed. Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2002, . References External links * The Silence of the Lambs on IMDb Category:1991 films Category:1991 horror films Category:1990s crime drama films Category:1990s crime thriller films Category:1990s horror thriller films Category:1990s serial killer films Category:American crime drama films Category:American crime thriller films Category:American horror thriller films Category:American serial killer films Category:BAFTA winners (films) Category:Best Picture Academy Award winners Category:Cannibalism in fiction Category:Crime horror films Category:Edgar Award-winning works Category:English-language films Category:Federal Bureau of Investigation in fiction Category:Films scored by Howard Shore Category:Films about abduction Category:Films about psychopaths Category:Films based on thriller novels Category:Films directed by Jonathan Demme Category:Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award-winning performance Category:Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award-winning performance Category:Films featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe-winning performance Category:Films set in Baltimore Category:Films set in Illinois Category:Films set in Memphis, Tennessee Category:Films set in Ohio Category:Films set in Virginia Category:Films set in Washington, D.C. 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